Finding Treasure

Has your current line of work changed your perspective on something in your personal life or beliefs?
I design digital interfaces and user experiences. I’ve noticed that the small extra touches that make an experience delightful often take a disproportionate amount of time and effort to implement (e.g. the micro-animation that plays when you hit ‘like’ on Twitter). So I’ve come to appreciate the little things a lot more.

The same is true of my relationships with people. It takes effort to put in thoughtful touches, but no matter how small or fleeting the effect seems, it’s definitely worth it.

You’re given the ability to implement one new law in society—what would it be and why?
People should be allowed to critique the government because the government exists for the people. People should be allowed to protest and have their voices heard. I think it’s fine to punish those who spread misinformation, but the onus should be on the government to prove that it is in fact misinformation.

I think in an ideal society, education should be robust and equal enough that the general population can be counted upon to provide views that are constructive rather than destructive.

Is there something we’re not currently taught in school but you feel we ought to be?
Definitely Adulting 101 (and 201, and 301). Things like taxes, insurance, investing…even cooking and sewing. Survival skills that nobody really teaches us, and also how societal systems work. I don’t think it should be up to individuals to find these things out from variable, unclear, or potentially unreliable sources.

Would you say you’re someone who thinks more about the past or the future? 

I used to ruminate on the past a lot, but it became counterproductive. Thinking about the future makes me anxious. I’ve had a lot of plans repeatedly fail during the pandemic, and since then, I’ve learnt to take things more slowly. I try to make the most of each day, and pop my head out of the water to check the horizon occasionally.

What’s a unique hobby or habit you might have?
I explore makeup using trash on my Instagram account! It’s my way of celebrating ordinary objects and expressing why some of them feel so aesthetically compelling to me.

If you had unlimited resources, what’s something frivolous you’d collect?
I’d love to collect compelling pieces of trash from around the world—disposable cups, bread clips, takeaway boxes. It would be cool to catalogue the evolution and variation of their designs over the span of decades, and maybe put them in a museum. A garbage museum!